Story-Behind-One-Elvis-Presley-Most-Expensive-Cars-Lincoln-Continental-II

WATCH: Story Behind One of Elvis Presley’s Most-Expensive Cars, the Lincoln Continental II

Elvis Presley had a taste for the finer things in life. Listen to how The King got his hands on a Lincoln Continental II, his most expensive car.

In a video from Elvis’s estate’s social media accounts, a Graceland tour puts you in the driver’s seat to his costly ride.

Angie Marchese, the Graceland tour guide, explains how crazed fans were the reason behind Elvis Presley’s sudden and sizable purchase.

“But another car, that right in front of is one that was purchased in Miami, Florida. This also has a funny story. Elvis was driving a Lincoln on tour in Miami when the fans found him at the hotel, and they decided they were going to leave messages on his car. Which included using everything from lipstick to pen, to whatever they could find to scratch messages in on their car.”

While we would have been furious, it’s just a day in the life for a world-renowned artist. Elvis Presley does what anyone fiscally responsible person would do if they had his wallet. He stops at the nearest dealership and purchases another. Sure.

“So Elvis wakes up the next day, goes out to get into the car, and obviously cannot drive it. It is completely covered in love notes and graffiti from the fans. So, he goes to the closest dealership, which happens to be a Mercury dealership where they were actually selling Continentals. Now, this was before Lincoln owned the Continental brand. So, Elvis traded in that car that had all the messages on it to that dealership for this Continental Mark II.”

How Much Was Elvis Presley’s Car?

While it may not seem like much today, the Inflation Calculator indicated this car cost around $100,000 today compared to $10,000 in 1953. In addition, the average price on a 2020 Rolls-Royce is north of $300,000.

“At the time, this was one of the most expensive cars you could buy. It actually cost more than a Rolls-Royce. Rolls-Royce’s at the time were averaging like $6,000. This cost Elvis $10,000. He paid for it with his earnings from that tour. Drove it the rest of the tour, brought it back here to Memphis.”

This isn’t the only place that Elvis Presley took his beloved car. Marchese reports that The King took it everywhere, from dates to movie sets, before later trading it in.

“This car went with him to New Orleans when he filmed “King Creole” on location. He took Natalie Wood’s on dates in this car, so this car’s got a lot of history to it. It then, like most of Elvis’s cars were traded in, you know, eventually left a collection one way or another, and we recently acquired this car several years ago. It came back here from Greg Page’s collection in Australia.”

The car is one of many that Elvis Presley owned and tricked out over his 42 years of life.